By Corey Paul

UPDATE (Jan. 3, 2011): Indeed, the Timbers have surpassed 10,000 season ticket sales, the team announced Monday. Also, the team decided upon the 12,000 cap, and all 23 suites have been sold on a multi-year basis. Remaining season tickets start at $18 per game.

The Portland Timbers expect to surpass 10,000 season tickets sold by the end of the year in advance of their inaugural season as a Major League Soccer franchise.

"Coming down to the deadline here we've seen a nice push with the unveiling of the new program," says Timbers spokesperson Chris Metz. He's talking about the Axe Society, a promotional group offering membership to all who buy tickets before Dec. 31 and benefits including the permanent display of their names in the stadium and discounts in the team store.

Also contributing to sales are the announcements of new players, including Friday's trade of goalkeeper Steve Cronin to D.C. United for Troy Perkins, a veteran who was the second-highest paid goalkeeper in the league last season.

Then there are billboards of men and women wielding axes that popped up around Portland in the past few months, and the MLS' unveiling on Monday of the 2011 openers. The Timbers on March 19 will play the defending MLS Cup champion the Colorado Rapids in Denver. On April 14, the Timbers play their first home game against the Chicago Fire in a newly renovated PGE Park.

In late September, the team reported 15 sold-out sections and four nearing sold-out status, and fans speculated on blogs that 10,000 season tickets had already been sold.

Now, The Timbers' web site states that 20 sections have sold out as well as 75 percent of season tickets — or about 9,000 — but those figures are misleading. For one, says Metz, the numbers need updating. For two, a hard cap of season tickets hasn't been set, although Metz said the team is considering capping season tickets at 12,000.

If the team falls short by the time it releases details of season ticket sales and section availability on Jan. 3, it will still have months to reach its goal. Prices for individual games still haven't been set; nor has a date when they will go on sale.

By way of comparison, the Vancouver Whitecaps' sales boomed since the team was granted MLS status in March 2009. A week after that announcement, the Whitecaps began selling season ticket deposits. The Timbers chose a similar strategy, selling 1,000 deposits in 10 days. But the Whitecaps sold 5,000 in 48 hours. Demand was high enough early-on, says President Bob Lenarduzzi, for the Whitecaps to set a season ticket cap of 16,500 for its 20,000 seat stadium. That's about the same capacity as the renovated PGE Park.

It remains to be seen whether the Portland area can generate a long-term fan base for an MLS team. Soccer in America is growing, and Vancouver, of course, is in Canada.

Both the Whitecaps and the Timbers look to Seattle as they launch their seasons in the big league. There, MLS soccer proved a moneymaker in the first two seasons, with 22,000 season tickets sold their inaugural season and 32,000 for the 2010 season. The Sounders averaged over 30,000 fans a game in 2009 at Qwest Stadium, then increased capacity to 36,400 and sold out every game in 2010.

Comments

"It remains to be seen whether the Portland area can generate a long-term fan base for an MLS team. Soccer in America is growing, and Vancouver, of course, is in Canada."

Portland has already demonstrated it has a bigger fan base in Division 2 than some MLS clubs have. They've done that for years. How does it remain to be seen that Portland can generate a long-term fan base when they have already done just that?

Just to add in, Vancouver's actual ticket sales have been reported as being deflating, when compared to their deposit numbers. The Portland Timbers are doing far better, at least when it comes to actual ticket sales. One avenue of reasoning regarding this is that Vancouver overestimated demand with a price structure that is too high for their fanbase.

"It remains to be seen whether the Portland area can generate a long-term fan base for an MLS team. Soccer in America is growing, and Vancouver, of course, is in Canada."

Whats funny is that as a Division II team Portland averaged almost 11k per game. That figured only being that low because two games in April where scheduled at the exact same time as Portland Trailblazer home playoff games. (that's a special feat for that team).

As a matter of fact most games I was at, which totaled about 10. (all 17 next year) had anywhere from 12k to 15k, 15k being the max for a soccer match. So as a USSF Div-II team the Portland Timbers had better attendance than some of the MLS teams. May I also point out that in 2010 there were only something like 2500 season ticket holders from what I had been told. I just don't see Portland having a problem filling the stadium to capacity each game.

"Vancouver's actual ticket sales have been reported as being deflating"

They have? Do you have a source?

I ask because when my deposit window opened for me to purchase my actual Whitecaps season tickets on the 2nd day of availability, at least 1/2 the lower bowl was definitely sold already (at least according to the seat selector software). That would be about 15,000 or so, and that was back in November. It was mostly corners in the lower bowl that were sparse, except for the Southsiders section.

Indeed, the Timbers have surpassed 10,000 season ticket sales, the team announced Monday, Jan. 3. Also, the team has decided upon the 12,000-ticket cap, and all 23 suites have been sold on a multi-year basis.

BY CHRIS NOBLE

BY JASON E. KAPLAN | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

As part of our green workplaces story, Oregon Business checked out a community service project undertaken by Portland Youth Builders, a nonprofit alternative high school. In partnership with Whole Foods, PYB built garden boxes for a Home Forward housing site. Home Forward is a government agency that provides housing for low income residents and people with disabilities.

BY LINDA BAKER

Charlie Hales has long viewed sound urban planning as the route to salvation: social, economic and environmental. This week, the mayor's city design philosophy got the nod of approval from a bona fide spiritual authority, Pope Francis.

BY STUART WATSON

BY JON SHADEL

The technology industry is always in flux. And this rapid rate of change poses challenges to companies ranging from nimble startups aiming to make their mark to established organizations fighting to remain relevant. This is particularly true in the competitive digital display market, where an Oregon company has been at the forefront of nearly every major breakthrough in the last three decades.

Press Releases

Robert S. Wiggins has joined Lane Powell as a Shareholder in the Corporate/M&A Practice Group. Wiggins is a well-known lawyer, entrepreneur, and investor with more than 30 years of experience leading and advising established and emerging companies in the Pacific Northwest. Wiggins will focus his practice on offering outside general counsel services, including general corporate and board representation, business transactions and capital events.